The shimmering ball of white light arced through the sky of the void, a trail of white fizzling behind it as it moved towards Hector. He raised cupped hands as if collecting water from a tap, catching the Talent as it slowed and dropped into his outstretched palms.

  The Talent’s surface writhed, the symbols on it churning around each other like a pit filled with snakes. He still didn’t understand what he assumed were words—the meaning behind these symbols—and lately, doing that had become less of a priority.

  What he needed to do right now was make himself and the others stronger, nothing else. His gaze shifted to the inky blackness of the void looming above, with a hint of worry swirling in his chest. Was he using his sister as an experiment? Perhaps, but it was for her own good. She would be stronger.

  But that was if the Talent worked. What if simply placing it in her soul wasn’t enough? Sure, he could try to teach her to use it. Though from his attempts with her [Dreams of Time] Talent, that was going to be difficult.

  I can only hope that it only occurs with naturally occurring Talents. Perhaps if it’s granted by the system, she can use it straight away. At least I hope that is the case.

  Hector pushed the Talent off, and it shot back into the sky with a buzz, slashing through the void and racing towards the [Dreams of Time] Talent that continued its eternal passage across the void sky. Hector’s gaze bore into it with every moment, readying himself to call it back should anything go amiss.

  Thankfully, nothing did. After a few moments, the common [Moonlight Marionette] Talent was arcing a few paces behind the mystic Talent, both leaving fizzling tails of colour in their wake.

  “Alright, it doesn’t seem like anything else is going to happen,” Hector said. The water at his feet rippled, a shake coming from somewhere in the expanse. Hector tensed, but after a few moments of nothing happening, let out a breath. “I wonder what that was.”

  ————————————————

  ///: “The target Talent [Moonlight Marionette] has been successfully established in a user’s soul. Comprehension of Talent usage has been established with the target.”

  ————————————————

  “Huh? That was a lot simpler than I thought,” Hector said, reaching out to the system. A white text box shimmered to life before him with the description of [Moonlight Marionette]. Hector blinked, wetting his lips as his eyes trawled over the text.

  ————————————————

  ///: Moonlight Marionette (Common): The Talent enables the user to create a simple humanoid puppet, with limited mobility. The puppet can perform simple tasks within 20 meters of the user. Though this comes with some limitations. Said puppet may only function at night. The puppet’s strength is limited to 40% of the user’s; however, this strength/mobility is doubled on moonlit nights due to the moon’s energy.

  Increased stacks of [Moonlight Marionette] will enhance the puppet limit, strength and control radius.

  [?○○] (1/3) Activation: 30s Duration: Indefinite [Limited]

  ————————————————

  Hector brought a hand to his chin and frowned. It wasn’t as powerful as he’d hoped it would be, though that wasn’t necessarily a problem. With his two new system abilities, he could do something about that. However, [Talent Grafting] would have to wait, as the chance of him getting this Talent again, let alone any other Talent he grafted it with, was unpredictable.

  “But it should be fine,” he said, swiping away the screen. He spared a glance at the two Talents arcing across the void before the world melted away.

  His eyes flickered open, and he removed his hands from Mirae’s shoulder. “Alright, it’s done,” he said. Jodie gave him a questioning look, as if to ask what exactly had been done. Hector just shrugged and tapped Mirae on the shoulder. “You want to give it a shot?”

  There was a chance it wouldn’t work—after all, it had been nighttime when they came down here. If Hector had to guess, it was probably a few hours before dawn now. He glanced at the floor, emotion swirling behind his eyes. His father had almost been gone a whole day.

  “Sure,” Mirae said, pulling him from his thoughts. Hector glanced up at his sister as she stood up and turned, smiling at him. How much was she holding back, or had she done her grieving already? “You alright?” Mirae tilted her head to the side, her purple eyes shifting across his features.

  Hector nodded, gesturing her on before scooting back across the scratchy dirt, his pants scuffing on the ground as he sniffed. The smell of dried dirt simmered down into his lungs in an oddly calming way.

  Mirae gave him a last glance before backing up a little, so she was more in the centre of the circle that they’d formed. “I can feel this energy at the back of my mind, almost. Is that normal?” she said, pursing her lips.

  Hector nodded. “Just give it a tug. You’ll know what I mean when you reach towards it.”

  With a grunt of acknowledgement, Mirae closed her eyes, a look of confusion tightening on her face. Hector’s gaze scanned her, and a moment later, a twinkling sound emanated from the air before motes of light sparkled into being, pouring out of nothing like sand. As they poured out, a humanoid shape took form next to Mirae.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Its flesh was like clay, but luminescent and white. The air seemed to shimmer around it as it gently swayed. Turning its head, its featureless face seemed to survey all of them as if waiting for something.

  Mirae held up her hand to it. The creature reached out, and the two pressed their hands together. The thing was about half a head taller than his sister, probably just a little shorter than Hector. But from what the Talent said, it wouldn’t be that strong.

  “What is that?” Lincoln asked, his eyes shifting back and forth. The creature’s hand went back to its side, and it stood still, waiting for another order. Lincoln’s gaze shifted to Hector. “What did you do? Is that a part of the awakening you talked about?”

  Hector nodded. He rested his hands on his lap and ran his tongue across his bottom lip. The light puppet shifted slightly and then walked, circling Mirae. Its movements were a lot more fluid than Hector had anticipated.

  It looks a little stiff, but it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It should be almost smooth when the moon is out then.

  When they had come down, the moon hadn’t been out at all. Perhaps over the coming days, it would, though whether it would have an effect while they were underground was another question entirely.

  “I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Delworth said, watching the puppet. The creature then stopped, swaying slightly as it took its place next to Mirae. “I don’t even know if someone in the Core Formation realm can do something like this.” Delworth glanced at Marcus, giving him a look as if asking if he was seeing this.

  Marcus nodded, his brown eyes as wide as his cousin’s.

  “So are you going to awaken something like that in us?” Jodie asked. The girl shifted on the stone as her blue eyes bore into Hector. She raised a hand and stroked back a strand of ginger hair, the lock falling gently behind her ear.

  “That’s the plan.” Hector’s gaze moved back to Mirae. His sister circled the white puppet, poking at it and frowning before gazing at her hands with confusion. She was probably wondering how the Talent worked. Not that he had the faintest idea. His focus shifted back to Jodie. “I think I’ll do you next.”

  The ginger-haired girl smiled. She nodded and pushed off the floor, walking over to Hector. “Alright, let’s do this.”

  —— —— —— ——

  “Alright, let’s do this,” Emela said, walking through the gates of the Muddust refinery. The clacking of Nyx’s shoes on the cobblestone signalled her presence a few paces behind. Emela would have preferred her right next to her, but it wouldn’t do to have a maid walking shoulder-to-shoulder with her charge in public. Especially not here.

  Emela’s eyes shifted to the boy a few steps ahead of her, dressed in brown and black battle robes, swaying subtly in the wind. Ulrich combed his fingers through his tuft of brown hair as he presented the same modest smile. The lust lurking underneath was still there.

  Clenching her jaw, Emela continued to step forward steadily. The ends of her blue battle robes swayed subtly, and her two ponytails gently thumped against her back as she moved. “Many thanks for having me, my dear Ulrich,” she said. The words practically tasted like dirt as they came out of her mouth.

  She’d come here today to observe her so-called fiancé. To find out what he was, what made him tick. Nobles were rarely clean. If she could find something, anything, to justify a reason to delay or even cancel the marriage outright, then she had to do that. While not ideal grounds to find a man’s secrets, his place of work would be an enlightening one.

  Ulrich spread his arms, his smile growing wide. His eyes briefly shifted to Nyx in the back. “It’s my pleasure to have you, my dear. Welcome to my family’s humble facility, one of many we have across the city. Though we are most proud of this one. It was our first, don’t you know?”

  Emela resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The thing wasn’t even close to humble. While compared to her family estate, it was nothing, but within the outskirts of the slums, it dwarfed every building in the neighbourhood. It was practically a bush in a field of wild grass.

  “I did not,” Emela said. She stopped just short of the boy, not wanting to get too close and invite the wrong idea. Nyx stopped a few paces behind her. Emela turned, glancing past the maid, before gesturing down the street. “I saw a few city guards clustered just a little way down on my way over. Did something happen?”

  Ulrich frowned, dropping his hands to his side. A sneer then dragged itself across his lips as he scoffed. “Nothing too much. Apparently, some gutter rats got into a minor disagreement. A common occurrence among such filth. Nobody to worry about.”

  Emela’s brow tightened a little. While she herself was not a slum dweller, over the past few months, she’d seen how they lived. To characterise them as such was… her thoughts stalled—it was the thinking of a noble. What he said wasn’t unusual. Her gaze shifted to Nyx.

  The girl remained passive.

  “Though something interesting did, in fact, happen.” Ulrich continued, “Apparently, the fight disturbed a Core Formation cultivator. They saw the filth for what they were and slaughtered all of them.” The boy shook his head and smiled. “I wish I’d been there to see it.”

  “It’s so rare to see someone like that make a move. Alas, I’ll soon have such power. My father is in the Core Formation. While not as powerful as your own, he’s fearsome in his own right. Or so I’ve heard.” Ulrich raised his head high, his chest filling with pride. “Shall we?” he said, gesturing towards the refinery.

  The three of them walked forward, and as they did, two guards bearing the Muddust family crest flanked them. But that was not Emela’s concern. What bothered her was this Core Formation cultivator. While not especially rare in the grand scheme of things, it was still strange to see them anywhere near the slums. People like that would often stick closer to the centre, especially the stronger ones.

  They were practically nobles in their own right. Around here, they would move unchallenged. Nobles wouldn’t come to the slums unless they had a reason to.

  As they stepped through the refinery’s looming metal doors, a small bubble of anxiety that had been in Emela’s chest popped. While this place was on the outskirts of the slums and closer to the centre, the chance of her running into her friends wasn’t zero. But now that she was inside, that chance had gone away.

  “There is one thing I don’t understand,” Emela said with a frown. Ulrich glanced back, his robes swaying as he clacked across the marble floor. Several of the factory workers nodded at him before scuttling away. Emela noted that. “What was a Core Formation cultivator doing in the slums and at a fight between slum dwellers? A fight should hardly be enough to disturb someone like that.”

  Ulrich chuckled and waved a hand dismissively in the air. “Oh, you shouldn’t worry your little head about such things. What our elders do should not be your concern.” His gaze slithered over her body as his lips slipped into a smile. “As my future wife, you have more important things to worry about—Oh, let me show you the production line.”

  A guard who had been following them stepped forward and pushed open a door leading into another hallway. He stood stock-straight at the side, holding it open.

  Ulrich looked her over once more before stepping through.

  Bile built in the back of Emela’s throat as she followed after him, a cold sensation spreading down her spine. While he was disgusting, he wasn’t wrong. She was here for a reason, and she needed to focus on that. The Core Formation cultivator didn’t matter. Figuring this—freak—out did.